Page 34 of A Savior for the Arrogant Dragon

Kira dialed the number then waited, her heart pounding in her chest, afraid that no one would answer, but her father’s voice came on the line. “Everything is fine, sweetheart,” he said. “I don’t want you worrying.”

The tears she’d been holding back came flooding to the surface and ran down her cheeks, “Dad, what happened?” she asked. “Are you sure you’re all okay?”

When she hung up ten minutes later, she felt much better. “They’re okay, and they’ll be here tomorrow, so I’m going to try and stop worrying,” she said, setting the phone down with a sigh. I just can’t believe it’s not over yet. I thought when the hearing was over that would be the end of it. That woman is crazy.”

Simon pulled her into his arms, “I couldn’t help but overhear your side of the conversation,” he said. “Tell me about your daughter. Maybe that will help.”

A smile spread across her face, “She’s the love of my life,” she said. “Her name is Kiley, and she just turned a year old.”

“I bet she’s just as pretty as her mother,” Simon said, rubbing her back. “It sounds like her father is trying to take her away from you.”

She nodded, “Since the day she was born,” she said, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hands. “I met her father when I started a new job at a publishing house. I was a junior assistant, and he was in upper management. He told me he wasn’t married that he’d been waiting for a woman just like me, and I believed him, then I gotpregnant, and everything changed. I found out he was married the same day that human resources called me in and tried to coerce me into having an abortion. When I refused, they fired me and Edward pretended that I didn’t exist until I gave birth. Then, he was suddenly very interested.”

“He sounds like a real asshole,” Simon said. “The story isn’t over yet, is it?”

“No, it gets worse,” she said, letting out another long sigh. “I was still in the hospital after having Kiley. She was maybe eight hours old. Edward showed up in my room and served me with custody papers.”

“Kira, that’s horrible,” he said, pulling her closer. “You really have been through a hard time. I wish you would have told me sooner.”

“I was trying not to think about it while I was here,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It took me a year to beat them in court. Edward’s wife Virginia tried to destroy me. She spread rumors, even tried to plant drugs in my house. She can’t have children, and I guess me having Edward’s baby sent her over the edge, but I never thought she’d try to steal Kiley.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry all of this happened to you,” Simon said. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through.”

“I was doing pretty good until this happened,” she said. “I really thought it was over.”

“Maybe you should go lay down for a while,” he said. “A nap might help. You look completely worn out. I’ll stay here with you while you sleep.”

She thought about it for a second, then shook her head, “Edward has ruled the last two years of my life,” she said. “I’m not going to let him do it anymore. Let’s go on the hike you were talking about. There’s nothing I can do here but worry. Having some fun will get my mind off things.”

CHAPTER 19

***SIMON***

Simon followed Kira up the trail, doing his best to keep up with the pace she set, but he wasn’t ashamed to admit it was a relief when they stopped to rest. “You’re going to kill me, woman,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “I hope that anger burns away soon, or you’re going to have to carry me back.”

She laughed, “I’m sorry, I’ll slow down. It just feels good to do something,” she said, handing him a water bottle. “One of the ways I handled the stress of the last year was going to the gym, sometimes it was the only thing that let me sleep at night.”

“Well, at least that’s something healthy,” he said. “My coping mechanism was women and booze, but no more of that for me,” he said, then looked over at her. “Well, there might still be one woman I want to help me cope with life.”

Kira’s eyes softened with what he hoped was affection, “Hey, don’t go getting all soft and squishy on me right now,” she said, but there was a smile on her face and a blush on her cheeks. “I’m supposed to be mad now, and you’re making it really hard.”

He laughed, “Then I’m doing my job,” he said, handing the water bottle back to her. “I think I’m ready to see that waterfall now.”

“You got it,” Kira said, getting to her feet. “The trail gets a little more difficult from here. Just let me know if I’m going too fast.”

The trail turned out to be not much more than an animal tract through the jungle, but Kira seemed to know where she was going, so he followed her. “This isn’t much of a trail,” he finally said after they’d been fighting the jungle for half an hour. “Are you sure this is the right way?”

“This place is kind of a secret. Max told Mary Beth about it, and she brought me up here that day……well, the day you changed,” she said. “Max doesn’t want all the guests coming up here, so only a few people know about it.”

“His secret is safe with me. I don’t know if I could even find the trail again,” he said, pushing leaves and branches out of his way. “And no one is going to stumble on it accidentally, that’s for sure.”

They climbed steadily for the next half an hour and emerged into a clearing. He stood trying to catch his breath, the sight of the waterfall making him forget how much his body hurt. The water cascaded over towering cliffs of black stone that shimmered in the sunlight, then fell into a pool at the bottom surrounded by moss and plants. It looked so inviting that he wanted to dive in right then.

He looked at Kira and grinned. “This is amazing,” he said, “And we have the whole place to ourselves.”

She smiled back at him, “That was my plan,” she said, a look in her eyes that made his heart begin to pound with anticipation. “But first, we should have some lunch. We’ve got the whole afternoon.”

Food was the last thing on his mind as they made their way over to a big flat rock by the water, “Youreally are going to kill me, woman,” he said. “You can’t just say something like that and walk away.”

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